THAT familiar old condition, Scottish Cup fever, broke out in alarming

fashion in Huntly yesterday. The Highland League club with a habit of

going on giant-killing runs put their tickets on sale for the impending

clash with holders Dundee United -- and within an hour their allocation

was sold out.

Some fans had queued for almost two hours to secure a share of the

2000 briefs.

They would have been happy enough to get up early anyway, having seen

their team take another important step towards a second consecutive

championship. Huntly won 3-0 at challengers Elgin City thanks to goals

from Brian Thomson, his thirtieth of the season, and a double from Gary

Whyte.

Deveronvale debut defender Stewart Cameron had to be rushed to

hospital during the match against Buckie Thistle. The 19-year-old

suffered heart palpitations only five minutes into the game and was

taken to the cardiac unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Vale player-manager Kevin Bremner said: ''Obviously, it's a bit of a

worry, but it's happened to him before and he knew what to do.''

Doctors are still not sure what causes the problem, but Cameron's

footballing future is not thought to be in danger.

Bremner and Ross McLean both hit hat tricks as Vale routed Buckie 6-0.

Sammy Leonce gave Forres an early lead at Brora Rangers, but they had

to settle for a draw after having two players sent off.

Neil Nicol was red-carded for bringing down Brora's David Ross, who

got up to equalise from the resulting penalty. Then Andy Mathieson was

sent off for a second bookable offence only minutes after coming on as a

sub.

In the only other Highland game to survive the weather, Fort William

won through to the semi-finals of the North Cup after becoming the first

team this season to beat Caley Thistle reserves. Mike McEachan and Tom

Drummond set Fort on the way to a 2-0 win.